Your Right to Know

Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoDAVID MANNING | REUTERSPresumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney shakes hands with members of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials at Walt Disney World.

By Paul WestCHICAGO TRIBUNE • Friday June 22, 2012 7:13 AM

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Accusing President Barack Obama of taking Latino voters for granted,
Mitt Romney told an influential Latino audience yesterday that he would “replace and supersede”
Obama’s new deportation policy for young immigrants but offered no details.

One day ahead of Obama’s highly anticipated appearance before the same audience, the Republican
presidential candidate said that he “won’t settle for a stopgap measure,” as he characterized the
one Obama announced last week. It was Romney’s first outreach to Latinos in the general-election
campaign, and he used it to unveil family-friendly proposals aimed at immigrants who are current
legal U.S. residents.

But he suggested no remedy for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the
country illegally.

“I will prioritize measures that strengthen legal immigration and make it more transparent and
easier. And I will address the problem of illegal immigration in a civil and resolute manner. We
may not always agree, but when I make a promise to you, I will keep it,” he said at the opening day
of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials’ annual conference.

Romney accused Obama, who hasn’t spoken to the NALEO gathering since the 2008 campaign, of “
taking your vote for granted.” He added: “You do have an alternative, and your vote is more
important now than ever before.”

He received a polite reception from the bipartisan — though predominantly Democratic —
organization. The only discordant note was a loud “boo” when Romney’s call for the repeal of Obama’s
health-care law drew a smattering of applause.

During his remarks, Romney touched on several new planks in his immigration policy, including
reallocating the current number of green cards to give priority to legal immigrants who want to
unite their families “under one roof.” He also said he would exempt from green-card caps the
spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents.

The Romney campaign, in an email to reporters, also said Romney would raise limits on the number
of immigrants from unspecified countries to improve the chances that “the best and brightest” could
immigrate to the U.S. He drew applause after mentioning that his policy of offering a path to
citizenship for immigrants who serve in the military.

For years, partisan stalemate in Washington and divisions within the Republican Party have
blocked action on a comprehensive immigration overhaul and are complicating Romney’s efforts to
attract more Latino support. Conservatives have criticized Romney for not pushing back more
aggressively against Obama’s new policy to limit deportations of young immigrants, which they have
labeled “back-door amnesty.” If elected, Romney would have to either suspend or continue Obama’s
policy, but he has refused to say which path he would choose.